Starbucks open its 100th store in Singapore, hires ARC clients

[Geordie]

Starbucks open its 100th store in Singapore, hires ARC clients

Starbucks opened its 100th store in Singapore on Friday, and joined a growing list of companies that have hired people with special needs.

In its first such partnership, the global coffee chain's store at Fullerton Waterboat House has hired six clients from the Autism Resource Centre (ARC).

Starbucks has committed to have ARC clients form at least a quarter of the staff at the store. This is part of an ongoing collaboration with the charity, which began in 2005, to train people with autism and equip them with job skills. One such joint programme that they have launched was the setting up of a cafe training facility for youth with autism in ARC's special education school Pathlight School last year.

Tumblers bearing the Starbucks logo that are designed by a student at Pathlight School will also be sold exclusively at the store, with $5 from the sale of each tumbler going to ARC

Starbucks opens 100th store here, its first to hire clients from Autism Resource Centre

 

[thegreatflamarion]

Whoa.Starbucks is a place to get things to eat and drink. It is not my cup of tea. Ha, that was a litle joke.


But seriously I dont really care them. But thats good thing of them to do.

 

[Turnip]

I get really mixed feelings about news like this. Six staff doesn't seem like a lot, and the article doesn't mention what the positions (or conditions) were. I'd bet Starbucks have unwittingly hired more autistic people than that (it'd be hard to estimate without knowing what they usually look for in staff).

The real news will be how well the staff are supported, whether they can leverage the experience to get and keep jobs elsewhere when they are ready to move on, and whether they get opportunities for advancement within the company.

Also, (and I ask more out of curiosity than relevance) does anyone know if Starbucks in Singapore uses fully automatic coffee machines like they switched to in the US? (ie. no skill involved in pouring the espresso, the "barista" is relegated to pressing a button)

 

[Geordie]

The real news will be how well the staff are supported, whether they can leverage the experience to get and keep jobs elsewhere when they are ready to move on, and whether they get opportunities for advancement within the company.

Also, (and I ask more out of curiosity than relevance) does anyone know if Starbucks in Singapore uses fully automatic coffee machines like they switched to in the US? (ie. no skill involved in pouring the espresso, the "barista" is relegated to pressing a button)

Turnip, this is why I had not accepted placement by my local autism society. This job is not really useful for me for the complexities of the 21st century economy, which emphasizes a lot on the human interaction experience and flexibility to a market in flux. I believe Aspies, with support, are able to thrive in today's world.

Singapore's Starbucks use fully automatic coffee machines for coffees, and cold ice blended frappuchinos (the drink of choice for most Singapore coffee drinkers). I often write down a recipe for the baristas for custom recipes, and I sometimes even bring outside food just for a social experience watching people walking by the streets. I do not think these jobs are real skilled jobs. I know all these because I applied for a job position in Starbucks. I was rejected, but I learnt a lot about coffee-making from observation.

 

[Turnip]

Turnip, this is why I had not accepted placement by my local autism society. This job is not really useful for me for the complexities of the 21st century economy, which emphasizes a lot on the human interaction experience and flexibility to a market in flux. I believe Aspies, with support, are able to thrive in today's world.

I can understand/relate to this. Though I have worked in low-end IT support and found the restriction of mostly phone and email communication was something I could do (it did wear me out), I don't think I could work in a store like Starbucks personally. In my career thus far the lack of support, understanding and treatment by managers has been a recurrent issue, so it came to mind with something like this.

Singapore's Starbucks use fully automatic coffee machines for coffees, and cold ice blended frappuchinos (the drink of choice for most Singapore coffee drinkers). I often write down a recipe for the baristas for custom recipes, and I sometimes even bring outside food just for a social experience watching people walking by the streets. I do not think these jobs are real skilled jobs. I know all these because I applied for a job position in Starbucks. I was rejected, but I learnt a lot about coffee-making from observation.

That's interesting, I knew of Singapore style coffee and how the weather can be there (I've visited briefly) so frapps being popular makes sense to me, but it's also interesting to me that they use espresso: I've previously read that Starbucks (US presumably) were using cold-brew coffee in their frappucinos (cold brew is course ground beans left to soak in cold water for 8 hours or longer, as a drink it's less acidic and mixes well with milk, it's got a good rich flavour but much of the flavour is lost if it's heated so it's only used for cold beverages)

Sorry, I'm a bit of a coffee nerd (in case that's not obvious)

 

[Geordie]

I've previously read that Starbucks (US presumably) were using cold-brew coffee in their frappucinos (cold brew is course ground beans left to soak in cold water for 8 hours or longer, as a drink it's less acidic and mixes well with milk, it's got a good rich flavour but much of the flavour is lost if it's heated so it's only used for cold beverages)

Sorry, I'm a bit of a coffee nerd (in case that's not obvious)

Haha, I like to know more about coffee. They use everything with espresso, espresso, espresso. Cold brew coffee is only done in specialty coffee shops. All the more we don't drink hot coffee in Singapore's Starbucks stores

I feel fortunate Starbucks screened me out of a job, even as a barista.

Believe it or not, Aspies can be good cashiers and order-takers if we can handle the sensory overload. I know a few Aspies who work in retail, both here on AC and on a personal basis, and I am happy for them. But well, I imagine automation happening to not just coffee making, but also self-service check-out counters.